India is a country of diversity and contrasts. The seventh largest in the world, it is a vast land spread across 3,287,263 sq km. Its diversity is evident in its physical features, with the majestic Himalayan mountain range in the north, tropical rain forests in the south, and the Gangetic Plain and the Thar Desert region in between. India is a sovereign socialist seculardemocratic republic with a parliamentary system of government. It is divided into 28 states, six union territories and one national capital territory of Delhi.
India has a remarkable multiethnic and multilingual population, developed from its long and chequered history of invasions and migrations from the West, the Middle East, Central Asia, China and Tibet. With 1.028 billion people (2001 census) it is the second most populated country and accounts for 16.7 per cent of the world’s population. About 72 per cent of the people live in the country’s 593,643 villages; the rest live in urban centres.
The major ethnic groups are Indo-Aryan (72 per cent), Dravidian (25 per cent), Mongoloid and others (3 per cent). The Indo-Aryans are descendants of the Indic branch of the ancient Indo-Iranians (also known as Aryans) and are mainly found in the northern and central parts of India. The Dravidians, who arrived in India before the Aryans, are concentrated in the south, and the Mongoloids in the north-east. The Mongoloids can also be found in the state of West Bengal and the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.